Sunny day
by wolf of infinity
Summary: Whose idea had it been to spend the sunny summer day on the beach again? Oh right, it had been his idea - Austria finds that, despite some drama, a day on the beach might not be so bad... light, fluffy PrussiaxAustria, spiced with a little angst  One-shot


_Hm… I managed to write more cheesiness for you. This time it's a… *drum roll* Gilbert x Roderich fic, filled with a little angst, and a lot of fluff – hopefully ^^__ It's not very long, but it's the best I can do at the moment, as I am quite busy and stressed out... But I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless~! Oh, and for those of you who don't know; it's been stated that Roderich (Austria) is afraid of sea creatures such as starfish and crabs and such. Of course I had to use this for a story~ :3 (Perhaps I should make this a series of phobia-fics, as I've already written one for Gilbert's claustrophobia... ^^)_

_It is __not__ AU, but human names are used. Oh, and the characters might seem a bit OOC, but... whatever x3_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia – Axis Powers or any of its characters._

oOo

Violet eyes gazed out across the ocean, showing evident signs of discomfort, even if the rest of the Austrian's face was neutral. Whose idea had it been to spend the sunny summer day on the beach again? Oh right, it had been his idea. He could ask himself the question 'why?' several times, but would always come to the same answer; simply because Elizaveta had practically pleaded him with her eyes, and he just couldn't say no to that sweet, hopeful expression.

It would be fine, he had told himself, as long as he just staid at his spot in the shadow, eying Elizaveta and the others as they ran about, having fun in the gentle waves, building sand castles or playing volley ball. He had brought a book with him, but he found it hard to concentrate. His eyes glanced from the book up to the shimmering, vast blue in front of him, yet again, and he shuddered slightly before quickly locking his gaze on the page. He was certain he'd read that page at least three times, without catching its content at all.

"Come on and play with us, Roderich!" he heard Feliciano call, waving at him from his place by the sand castle he was building, Ludwig sitting by his side and clearly enjoying the sun more than he was helping the other with the building. The younger nation didn't seem to mind, though. Roderich sometimes wondered if that boy would ever grow up, but he couldn't deny that the Italian's naïve innocence was rather cute.

"No, I am fine," he called back, fixing his gaze on his book again. It didn't last long, however, before a shadow fell across him and he looked up at Elizaveta, who smiled brightly.

"Come on, you can't just sit around here all day! Not when the weather is so perfect!" She took hold of his hand and pulled him up with almost unnatural ease. He barely had time to give a muffled protest as she took the book from his hands and laid it down, pulling him from his spot in the shadow into the sun and down on the sand.

"I am perfectly fine reading, Elizaveta…" he said meekly, but she rolled her eyes.

"You haven't been switching pages for the last hour, so it couldn't be very interesting now, could it?" she smiled over her shoulder, thankfully letting go of his hand before they reached the water. He instinctively took a few steps back as a wave rolled up towards his sandaled feet.

"The water is warm, Roderich, come swim with me, please?"

His mouth went dry and he had to clear his throat a bit, shaking his head.

"No, I… I am not feeling very well," he said. It wasn't all a lie, he _wasn't_ feeling very well at all, and he felt even fainter as he spotted a crab crawling across the sand, only a few feet away. Swallowing heavily, he took another step back, and Elizaveta looked a bit concerned.

"You do look a bit pale…" she murmured, but didn't have time to say any more before Feliciano came running, apologizing profusely – although he was laughing with glee – as Ludwig ran after him, growling, while pulling a starfish out of his now messy hair, and a crab from the edge of his trunks, where it had promptly fastened itself with a strong grip of one claw. The Italian was carrying a rather large bucket filled with sea creatures, clearly having accidentally lost them onto the unknowing German.

Roderich paled, eyes trained on the creatures squirming in the bucket. Where on earth had Feliciano found all of those? It didn't really matter, before he really knew what happened, Feliciano had tripped and the bucket was flying through the air... spilling every squirming, squiggling, slimy and clawed creature onto the frozen Austrian.

He stumbled backwards, stumbling as he struggled to get the creatures off, but tripped in a bump in the sand, falling backwards into the water, trembling violently. The laughter had died out, and all he could register was the creatures crawling all over him. Panic built in his throat and chest as he sat there, completely frozen with fear. He didn't even realize that the others were looking at him with a mix of surprise, confusion and concern.

Then, he vaguely registered running steps approaching, and he was suddenly hoisted up from the water by a pair of strong arms, and someone were removing the creatures, while supporting him firmly – he was certain his legs would give out if the person let go, they were shaking.

"Come on, breathe!" someone urged and only now did he realize he had stopped breathing entirely, struggling to take a breath, only to find that he couldn't. Shutting his eyes, he heard a small gasp and someone calling his name as his body went limp and he was swallowed by darkness...

oOo

_They were everywhere around him. Wide, violet eyes moved f__rantically around, the sea water around him making them sting. Even if he struggled to moved towards the surface, he sank rapidly, until he reached the bottom. Panic filled every fibre of his being as he felt the creatures crawl over him, and he could see them, everywhere... _

_He wanted to scream, but his lungs were burning as the creatures crept closer and closer, staring at him with hunger. Oh God, they were going to eat him alive! He was going to die... he didn't want to die! Parting his lips, he sucked in water on pure reflex, gagging and choking, vision blurring as he drifted off to unconsciousness. The last thing he noticed was several small legs crawling across his face and neck... and everything went black..._

oOo

A startled and anguished yelp left his throat as he woke with a start, sitting up and looking around wildly, trembling like a leaf in the wind. He heard distant murmurs, and suddenly found himself in a comforting embrace. Desperate for any sense of comfort, he turned into the hold, burying his face into the person's warm chest and wrapping his arms around their back, clinging to the light fabric of their shirt.

"It's okay, you're safe now," a gentle voice murmured as they rubbed his back comfortingly. There was something familiar with their presence, but at the moment, Roderich couldn't recognize it. As he took in sharp gasps for air, he felt tears trickle down his cheeks, but he was too scared to be embarrassed, even if crying in front of others wasn't a thing he usually did.

After a while, his mind started to clear, and he slowly calmed down. As he did, he listened to the quiet words that were being whispered to him, and suddenly recognized the voice. But no, that couldn't be... why would he...

Sitting up slightly, he blinked away tears, glancing up and meeting with a pair of striking deep red eyes, which confirmed his suspicion. Damn, the Prussian was never going to let him live it down – he'd probably done this just to have something to tease him about later. Probably...

As he looked closer, though – unable to look away from the other's gaze – he suddenly realized that his face was far from filled with mirth or humour. In fact, he looked worried, compassionate... And his voice had been so quiet, which was uncharacteristic enough in and of itself.

"You ok?" Gilbert asked, cocking his head slightly to the side. Only now did Roderich notice their surroundings. He was once again in the shadow – sitting on the other's lap... If he'd had energy to get flustered, he would have blushed violently and struggled to get off. As it was, though, he didn't even attempt to move, as he was in fact... rather comfortable.

"W-what happened...?" he asked quietly once he found his voice.

"That little Italian managed to trip and dropped a bucket load of those... things on you. And you... well, you panicked. Pretty understandable, really..." The last part was added in a quiet tone, probably not meant for the Austrian's ears. Roderich swallowed. So he'd probably passed out in front of everyone, huh... Damn.

"You... you were the one who pulled me up?" he murmured quietly after a while, not meeting the other's eyes as he subconsciously leant into the other's chest again. He was too tired to care what he was doing.

Gilbert didn't respond, and simply held the Austrian a bit closer, almost protectively. For some reason, that made Roderich feel safe.

"You knew..." he whispered after a while, gazing up again and meeting the other's surprisingly calm and serious eyes. It was rare to see Gilbert Beilschmidt in this kind of mood – even Roderich had seen it only a few times, and he'd known the man for countless centuries, after all. It always somehow unnerved him, but sometimes it wasn't half bad, he had to admit as much.

"'Course I knew, we grew up together, didn't we? I'd be damned if I didn't notice," the silver-haired man said with a small smile. He sounded so matter-of-fact. Roderich nearly gave a small smile of his own.

"You notice a lot more than people give you credit for," he said, head coming to rest on the Prussian's shoulder.

"Well, I'm just awesome like that." Gilbert gave a grin, and Roderich fought the urge to roll his eyes. As they sat there in silence, he could hear the others playing on the beach. "They were worried, you know... but I convinced them you'd be fine, and told them to have fun."

"Thank you..."

"For keeping their curious asses away or for saving you?" Gilbert asked with a small smirk.

"Both," Roderich admitted, closing his eyes with a small sigh.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I know I can be annoying and all, but it's just not fun anymore when people are really scared. Phobias are not a thing to take lightly."

Roderich didn't reply to this, being well aware of the other's extreme case of claustrophobia due to his imprisonment at Ivan's place all those years ago. If anyone knew about phobias, Gilbert did. Perhaps that's why Roderich didn't feel embarrassed about freaking out like he had; he felt that the other could relate, and thus wouldn't make fun of it.

"Thank you..." he couldn't help but say it one more time, this time looking up and meeting the other's eyes. Gilbert grinned, although Roderich swore he could see just a faint blush adorning his cheeks.

"Now you're just feeding my ego," he laughed lightly, and Roderich smiled a bit.

"God forbid," he said with a small chuckle of his own, before yawning and once again resting his head against the other's shoulder, blinking and feeling a wave of drowsiness come over him.

"Heh, want me to take you home?" Gilbert asked, but Roderich shook his head, making himself more comfortable in the Prussian's lap, knowing full well that he would regret this "snuggling" later. Well, he'd deal with that when the time came, at the moment he couldn't really care less.

"No. I am fine like this," he murmured quietly, and soon, he fell asleep to the sound of Gilbert's steady, though slightly rapid heartbeats, and the waves and laughter in the distance, a small smile resting on his lips.

oOo

_I will not pay for your dentist appointment__ for consuming this sugary cheesiness! Hope you liked it, and if you could leave me a review telling me what you thought of it, that would really warm my heart~ ^^_


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